#49 Credibly

What it does Online lender that provides small businesses with short-term loans

How it grew When the company launched in 2010 as Retail Capital, the country was just beginning to emerge from the Great Recession, and most small companies could not quickly access working capital. Credibly created a scoring model to predict an applicant’s likelihood of paying off debt. A strategic investment from private equity firm Flexpoint Ford allowed Credibly to expand, as have new partnerships with larger banks.

How it grew The types of small businesses that turn to OnDeck Capital for loans are “what you might see while walking down the street in New York,” according to Noah Breslow, the online lender’s CEO. Restaurateurs seeking new equipment and retail shop owners looking tobuy inventory for the next season are common customers, he said, but the company’s portfolio spans about 700 different industries. "It’s incredibly diverse," Breslow said.

OnDeck got its start in 2007, offering loans to small businesses that banks didn’t want to serve. Over the years, the company has refined its OnDeck Score tool, which generates a rapid credit rating for businesses and determines the types of loans they can receive. At first,the largest loan offered was $100,000 for a one-year term, but now businesses with better credit can borrow as much as $500,000 over three years. OnDeck also began offering lines of credit in 2013. During the past few years, online loan applications have surged. OnDeck disbursed more than $1.8 billion to customers in the U.S., Australia and Canada in 2015, up from $173 million in 2012. In that time, OnDeck’s gross revenue increased nearly tenfold.

"In the early days, lots of customers would come to us after getting declined at a bank," Breslow said. Now, he said, about 80% of customers come to OnDeck first.

But that hasn’t translated into profits. The company has consistently reported net losses in the past few years, which reached $24.4 million for 2013. And with the steady decline in OnDeck’s stock price since it went public in December 2014, the company’s future is uncertain. OnDeck’s stock debuted at $24.15 per share and fell to less than half that price by theend of 2015. Shares were selling for just over $6 in mid-September.

Still, Breslow says the convenience of online lending will continue to attract new customers who previously would have visited a bank: "Increasingly they’re saying, 'I can go online, do a Google search and get a loan.' "

Photo credit: Noah Breslow: Fulfilling the need for getting a business loan online

#48 Num Pang Restaurants

What it does A Cambodian sandwich shop with eight mostly takeout locations in NYC, and more to come

How it grew About a decade ago, Ben Daitz wasready to trade in his chef ’s hat for a suit and tie. After stints cooking at such places as Tabla, Danube and Saul, he landed a gig as a broker at Time Equities, a major real estate investment firm. Because restaurants turn over constantly, brokers can lead busy lives linking landlords with people who want to open new eateries.

Unfortunately, not long after Daitz launched his new career, the financial crisis struck and business dried up. "I learned that restaurateurs have a lot of great ideas,” he said, "but not a lot of money."

So back into restaurants he went, this time teaming up with college friend Ratha Chaupoly to launch Num Pang in early 2009. The restaurant’s name comes from the Khmer word for bread.

The Cambodian-inspired sandwich shop is now one of the city’s fastest-growing chains. It has caught on by offering a bolder take on banh mis, the popular meat-and-vegetable-on-a-baguette combination.

The often-tiny shops, which have few or no seats, sport a distinctly urban energy and look, with graffiti art on the walls.

Daitz said he and Cambodia native Chaupoly were fortunate to start their business precisely when the economy had cratered. People looking for affordable, interesting lunch options quickly flocked to Num Pang, where most menu items cost between $8 and $12. The initial restaurant, a tightspot near Union Square, sold out every day for thefirst three months.

Having secured a foothold in midtown and lowerManhattan, the two partners are exploring where else to take their concept. And Daitz said the skills he learned as a broker come in handy.

#29 Adafruit Industries

What it does Designs and manufactures do-it-yourself electronic kits, electronic components and tools for hobbyists and makers

How it grew Founded in 2005 by MIT engineer Limor "Ladyada" Fried, the open-source hardware company has famously eschewed venture capital. Instead, it has grown organically by appealing not just to makers and hackers—a market expected to hit $6 billion in 2017—but to anyone with a yen to create. With its easy-to-assemble kits and enthusiastic outreach through online tutorials, YouTube series for children, Circuit Playground and a weekly show on Google Hangouts, Adafruit celebrated its millionth order this year.

#30 LiveIntent

What is does Provides data analytics to allow marketers to put tailored ads inside email newsletters

How it grew Email may seem like an ancient technology in a constantly evolving digital age, but LiveIntent founder Matt Keiser can tell you it remains the first choice of companies for communications across generations. The key to LiveIntent’s growth is its focus on customers and the digital fingerprint created by their email address—rather than on devices—to develop the data analysis and technology to place advertisements where and when people are open to seeing them.

#23 Biz2Credit

What it does Operates an online marketplace that matches small businesses with sources of capital, and services those loans

How it grew Biz2Credit makes it easy for small businesses to apply for commercial loans online. The firm doesn’t make loans, but it connects borrowers to a network of banks and other firms that do. Even though banks are lending to small businesses again after a long drought, the foothold Biz2Credit established during the hard times should position it well for years to come.

How it grew Founded in 2007, the company was acquired by Taboola (No. 8 on the Fast 50 list) in August 2016 and has capitalized on the rise in online video, offering digital publishers a platform to access and display video advertisements. Its tools allow clients to control video placement and features like volume control to improve userexperience or increase revenue.

#35 AdTheorent

What it does Determines in real time the optimal moment an individual consumer should receive communications from brands, based on multiple factors, including weather patterns

How it grew Given the increasing customer-centric focus at blue-chip brands, AdTheorent has been fortunate to be in the "right place, at the right time, with the right product," according to Josh Walsh, one of its founders. That has translated into a business that includes Mazda, Verizon, General Mills, Starbucks and Disney, along with a host of other Fortune 500 companies, on its client roster. Revenue growth stems from a system that, after analyzing reams of data, can in seven milliseconds answer the question "At what moment should a brand send a particular consumer an ad?"—a question it answers 30 billion to 40 billion times each day.

Correction: AdTheorent is headquartered in Hudson Square. The location was misstated in an earlier version of this profile.

#6 Exusia

What it does Helps financial, high-tech, health care and government clients manage and monetize data to improve their products, services and operations

How it grew An information-management consulting firm, Exusia helps companies better manage data to increase revenue, operate more efficiently and improve their compliance with regulations. In 2015, Exusia expanded its scope of services, added the health care industry to its roster of client sectors and grew its team in India by 300% to support customers in North America, Latin America and Africa.

#21 Pharmapacks

What it does Sells health and beauty products through its own website and retailers such as eBay and Amazon

How it grew Pharmapacks cofounder Andrew Vagenas first began selling health and hygiene goods online in 2010 to supplement the retail business at his brick-and-mortar pharmacy in the Bronx.

Starting out as a reseller with about 2,000 productsavailable on its website, Pharmapacks is now a thriving e-commerce company with a catalog of about 25,000 items ranging from makeup to school supplies. The secret to the company’s growth, according to Vagenas, is the ability to replicate its proprietary e-commerce platform on multiple sites, which now include Amazon, eBay and Overstock.com, in addition to Pharmapacks’ own website. Last year, thecompany caught the attention of Walmart and is nowpartnered with the retail giant and a discount site that Walmart acquired in August called Jet.com.

"A few years ago, a lot of the wholesalers anddistributors didn’t want to work with us becauseonline retail was still new," said Vagenas. "Nowdistributors and wholesalers are coming to us, andsame thing with brands, and same thing with saleschannels. Marketplaces are the malls of the future,and everyone is trying to create a marketplace."

Pharmapacks uses technology to keep its marketplace dynamic and responsive. Its listings are automatically adjusted based on data collected on online shopping habits and prices. The costs of shipping and purchasing also influence prices and inventory, keeping the catalog in constant flux.

"When we get a better deal, prices automatically change on the sales channel," Vagenas said. "We pass that down to the customer."

The Whitestone, Queens, native started the business with $750,000 borrowed mainly from friends and family, and many of his fellow executives are from the neighborhood. Revenue continues to climb, Vagenas said, and he projects Pharmapacks’ sales will be between $130 million and $160 million in 2016.

After perfecting its technology and securing its e-commerce reputation, Pharmapacks is focused on expanding into new territories. The company’s plans include forays into new products, such as baby and pet supplies, and new regions. Pharmapacks began selling in Canada in April and is planning to go global within the next six months.

#15 National Medtrans Network

What it does Coordinates transportation of elderly and disabled patients enrolled in public health insurance to their doctor’s appointments

How it grew National MedTrans Network has been contracting with Medicaid health plans since 2005 to provide rides for elderly patients, but growth was initially slow. Until recently, the government had handled most non-emergency medical-transportation contracts, not insurance companies. In 2011 and 2012, demand for the service exploded when New York state began transferring more responsibility for managing Medicaid benefits to health plans, which in turn sought service providers that could coordinate transportation for their members.

#32 Contently

What it does Licenses software to help brands create and manage online content

How it grew: The founders of Contently turned the challenge of finding a freelance writer into a tech company: Its software provides clients with everything from ideas to analytics, and connects them to freelancers who can turn their concepts into reality.

One-year content-marketing subscription packages serve as Contently’s major revenue generator, although the tech company takes a small portion of the fee its clients pay to their freelancers. Its network includes writers, editors, photographers, graphic designers and videographers.

Bolstered by $12 million in funding from the likes of David Lerner, Lightbank, Sigma West and Sigma Price, the five-year-old company got its big break three years ago with American Express’ Open Forum division, which focuses on small-business issues. While equipping Open Forum with the tech tools to create brand-building content, Contently learned the ropes in navigating and pitching big corporations; it also got a handle on how their needs differed from startups. Significantly, too, Amex elevated the firm’s credibility. The company has gone on to snag a bevy of brands, including Google and Marriott.

Contently got another lift from surging interest in content marketing across the Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 corporate landscape—for not only websites but all social-media channels. Increasingly, companies see themselves as needing a voice across media platforms, but many lack the expertise to publish stories that are relevant to the audiences they target.

Demand has helped the company grow its sales team to 18 people last year from just one person in 2012, while adding offices in Minnesota, San Francisco and London and acquiring an analytics company to give clients feedback on their content.

Still, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing.

"For a long time, people didn’t believe that content could be a great marketing [tool]," said CTO Dave Goldberg, one of the firm’s three founders. "So we had to educate and show people that if you can create great content, you can get to your marketing goals more cheaply and more efficiently."

Since 2013, the company has launched two online publications, Content Strategist and The Freelancer, as well as the printed periodical The Contently Quarterly, to demonstrate how thoughtful content can cut through the clutter in the age of information overload.

#33 StartApp

What it does Enables developers to easily installadvertisements in their free apps

How it grew Founded in 2010, StartApp has been able to keep adjusting its tools to serve a changing market. The company has more than 220,000 applications carrying its mobile advertising products, reaching a user base of more than 477 million worldwide. Its signature programs include the SODA social data algorithm, whichgives clients a comprehensive, detailed profile of users so that marketing strategies can be tailored to them, and a “360” ad tool that uses the gyroscope inside a phone to provide full-circle visuals.

Correction: StartApp is located in SoHo. The company location was misstated in an earlier version of this profile.

How it grew Harry Kargman launched Kargo in 1999, only to see the software company flop when the Nasdaq bubble popped a few years later.

Undeterred, Kargman changed direction and in 2004 started selling ringtones for cellphones—until the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 blew up that business. So he changed tack again and turned Kargo into a host for magazine websites and tried to sell online advertising. That didn’t take either, so about four years ago, Kargman turned his company’s focus toward creating ads that appear on smartphones. At long last, Kargo found its niche. "It only took about a dozen years to become an overnight success," Kargman quipped.

Kargo specializes in turning concepts from clients like Proctor & Gamble or ad agency Publicis into ads that people won’t be inclined to click away from. Kargo-made ads now appear on websites owned by Hearst, NBC, Vice and other media powerhouses.

Kargo is profitable and debt-free and in 2016 will generate more than $100 million in revenue. What’s more, it has no outside shareholders after Kargman, 42, bought out his venture capital investors in 2008 and allocated their equity to his employees. The absence of impatient VCs anxious for a big payday gives Kargo time to invest in research and development, and Kargman reckons he has 90 engineers and product developers working on projects that aren’t generating revenue—yet.

Earlier this year, Kargman’s firm started licensing its technology—a move he figured would save time, and emails—while clients made advertising decisions. Licensing sales got off to a slow start but now account for a significant chunk of revenue that figures to grow in the coming years."This company has already been through four pivots over its life," Kargman said. "Maybe we’re now onto our fifth."

#37 Tapad

What it does A marketing-technology firm that provides information about how consumers interact with smartphones, tablets, home computers and smart TVs

How it grew In 2015, Tapad introduced a data licensing program called Tapad Coral that helps companies reach and market to customers on all their devices. Verizon, Pepsi, Toyota, McDonald’s, Macy’s and more signed up to use the technology.

#13 FanDuel

What it does Daily fantasy sports startup that allows customers to win cash prizes based on the statistical performance of athletes in real-world competitions

How it grew FanDuel was riding high at the beginning of 2015. Founded in 2009 by Scottish entrepreneur Nigel Eccles, the company tapped into the popularity of fantasy sports, offering users the chance to play and win money on a daily basis. Customers chose a roster, and FanDuel paid the winner based on the players’ actual performance. FanDuel and its main competition, Boston-based DraftKings, owned more than 90% of the fast-growing market. In September 2014, the company closed a $70 million Series D round with investors including Shamrock Capital and NBC Sports, followed by $275 million from such investors as KKR, Google Capital and Time Warner in July 2015. That money went directly into advertising in a furious effort to grow its customer base. In the month before the start of the 2015 NFL season, FanDuel and DraftKings outspent the entire beer industry, airing nearly 1,300 minutes of ads a day. Through October 2015, FanDuel alone spent more than $130 million on television ads, had a valuation of over $1 billion and anticipated revenue of more than $170 million.

That October, however, things went sideways when a DraftKings employee won $350,000 in a FanDuel contest, raising the question of whether employees at the companies were trading inside information. The ensuing uproar drew unwanted scrutiny and led New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to order both companies to stop accepting bets. He alleged that daily fantasy sports were illegal because they are games of chance—not skill. The number of players plummeted and, accordingly, so did revenue. Crain’s estimates FanDuel earned just over $130 million in 2015, well below its projected figure, in part because the company shut down its New York operations.

The challenges forced the fast-growing company to mature quickly. It hired lobbyists and lawyers and pressed its case. In August, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill legalizing daily fantasy sports websites while giving the state’s Gaming Commission power to regulate them. Companies must now be licensed by the state and pay a tax equal to 15% of their gross revenue. It was a small price to pay. FanDuel was back up in New York just in time for football—the industry’s busiest and most lucrative season.

#16 SeatGeek

What it does Provides ticket prices for ballgames, concerts and Broadway shows so consumers can comparison-shop among dozens of secondary-market ticket websites

How it grew SeatGeek has done for the ticket-selling industry what Kayak has done for airlines: made it easier to buy cheap tickets online. The company stands out in a crowded field by providing a “deal score” that rates ticket offers based on price, location and recent sales trends.

#27 Prolific Interactive

What it does A strategy-led agency delivering mobile experiences for leading brands.

How it grew In 2013, Prolific worked with a few retail partners, including ModCloth and Rent the Runway, to create mobile apps for their most loyal customers. The apps generated an ROI that made retailers take notice of the potential in mobile apps. The success of those apps has attracted more brands looking for Prolific’s help with their mobile strategy, including Alex and Ani, American Express, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sephora and SoulCycle.

Correction: Prolific Interactive is a strategy-led agency. The company's description was misstated in an earlier version of this profile.

How it grew Strategic Financial Solutions has distinguished itself from competitors by focusing on middle- and upper-middle-income customers. Its hands-on approach leads to a tailored solution for each individual debtor. The company has helped more than 40,000 clients reduce or resolve more than $400 million in credit-card debt.

#8 Taboola

What it does The hidden hand behind the "recommended for you” links on many web pages, Taboola serves content to readers and product suggestions to customers likely to want them

How it grew A $117 million funding round early in 2015 and an investment from Chinese search giant Baidu helped Taboola beef up its mobile offerings and expand internationally. Its partners now include Axel Springer, Condé Nast and the Weather Channel. In July, Taboola, which keeps its engineering team in Israel, bought video-recommendation engine Convert Media, No. 24 on the Fast 50 list. Taboola can now integrate video into a network that offers 360 billion content recommendations to over a billion unique visitors every month.

#14 Movable Ink

What it does Helps companies tailor their email marketing messages to customers in real time

How it grew CEO Vivek Sharma says Movable Ink is still benefiting from a key business decision in 2011: After recognizing that the company was targeting clients that were too small, he set the firm’s sights on bigger brands and added a customer support team to explain how to use the program to get results.

#47 AppNexus

What its does Online advertising marketplace that lets marketers find the audiences they want and websites auction the space they have; the instantaneous deals take place without human interference

How it grew AppNexus, the technology engine behind Microsoft’s Ad Exchange, signed deals with more than 50 publishers in 2015, adding Axel Springer, Hearst and Nasdaq to a client list that already included global advertising leader WPP. The company also directly challenged Google’s publisher business with an “open” platform that lets companies customize their own ad-tech solutions on top of AppNexus’ base. Continuing its global expansion, AppNexus in 2015 doubled its employee count in Europe, opened offices in Sydney and Singapore and established flagships in London and Paris, bringing the total number of offices around the world to 23.

#45 Refinery29

How it grew With its mix of entertainment, health, fashion and beauty news and an infusion of $50 million in financing last year from Scripps Interactive and WPP, this millennial-centric company streamlined its website to make it more user- and advertiser-friendly on mobile devices. It also went full blast in not only creating videos for its website but for social-media channels, including YouTube. Looking ahead, Refinery29 in June opened an office in Berlin, where it produces its first non-English site.

#20 WeWork

What it does Turns office towers into affordable work spaces for entrepreneurs and freelancers

How it grew Cofounded by former kibbutznik Adam Neumann in 2010, WeWork caught the wave of a rapidly changing employment market, becoming an economical base for freelancers, consultants, entrepreneurs and small businesses that didn’t want to be bothered managing their own real estate. With $1.4 billion in venture capital and private-equity backing, the company has expanded to more than 100 locations in 37 cities across a dozen countries around the world. Its next conquest: homes. Lately, WeWork has been expanding its work and living space concept, WeLive.

#10 TickPick

What it does Online marketplace for reselling tickets to sports, events and concerts

How it grew TickPick charges just a simple commission for purchases, distinguishing it from competitors that charge as much as 25% of the ticket price in fees. But after creating the platform and an algorithm to help users find both the best seats and the best prices, cofounder Brett Goldberg noticed the company was having trouble appearing on anyone’s radar. Creating a blog that showcased the firm’s knowledge of venues helped it start ranking higher in search results.

#26 Kepler Group

How it grew Kepler was founded in 2012 on the premise that most advertising agencies weren’t evolving fast enough to adapt to new technology, and it takes its annual growth rate of 50% to 100% as a sign that it was right. Kepler has attracted several Fortune 500 companies by offering clients tools to track data on every component of their marketing plans and adjust them as needed.

#41 Yext

What it does Produces software that lets businesses manage their online identities—address, phone number, hours of operation, etc.— across search engines, social networks, maps and devices

How it grew International expansion has been one factor driving growth for Yext. So has the increasing use of smartphones for both online and brick-and-mortar shopping: It’s more critical than ever that local businesses keep their online information up to date. This year, big boosts have come from partnerships with Google and Uber. Yext customers can now track their information across Google Search, Maps and ads. Restaurants can connect patrons to Uber via a button on their website.

#11 S'well

What it does Makes a nonleaching stainless-steel bottle that keeps drinks cold for 24 hours and hot for 12

How it grew The bottles are not only hip but functional. Sales are growing due to three rising consumer trends: the birth of “athleisure,” the eco-friendly movement away from single-use disposable water bottles and the popularity of corporate social responsibility (S’well promotes its practice of donating a portion of sales to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF).

Photo caption: Sarah Kauss: The CEO of S'well has a lot to smile about.

Correction: S'well donates a portion of sales to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. The institution was misstated in an earlier version of this profile.

How it grew Riding the digital-transformation wave engulfing advertising, Integral Ad Science has been helping clients analyze reams of data to put together effective ad campaigns. "We’ve focused on providing our customers with strong technical solutions," CEO Scott Knoll said. A key to the company’s success has been its people and "their passion to drive the most effective digital ad experiences possible," Knoll said. Integral Ad Science has won the Stevie Award for the best client services department three years in a row.

#19 Food52

What it does E-commerce site founded by former New York Times food editor Amanda Hesser and writer and caterer Merrill Stubbs

How it grew With a mix of recipes and smart writing, Food52 has fostered a community of more than 400,000 foodies who critique and tweak each other’s recipes and shop the site’s hand-picked kitchenware, home furnishings, specialty food items and jewelry. Food52 also launched an app that allows users to share images of their cooking, and it partnered with Ten Speed Press to publish cookbooks. E-commerce—60% of revenue—and advertising both continue to grow. The founders say revenue will top $19 million in 2016.

#18 Boyce Technologies

What it does Makes and installs Help Point emergency call stations on subway platforms so riders underground can reach police and other first responders

How it grew After winning a Metropolitan Transportation Authority contract, Boyce Technologies started installing new devices in 2011 to enable subway riders to communicate reliably with the world above in an emergency. The nine-year-old firm, whose clients include universities, airports and office buildings, has installed more than 2,000 Help Points and is moving into a 100,000-square-foot Long Island City warehouse by year’s end.

#22 ArroHealth

What it does Helps health insurers and physician groups better understand the medical spending habits of members and patients

How it grew Formerly MedSave USA,the company rebranded itself as Arro Health in 2015 after making a substantial change in its core business. Predominantly a third-party administrator that served both themedical and legal sectors, MedSave had 2012 health care revenue of $3.9 million, less than a quarter of its total $16.7 million in revenue. The company bet, correctly, that it could find more growth and opportunity in the health care industry. It cast off the legal and other legacy businesses to become one of the nation’s largest retrievers, reviewers and analyzersof medical record data. The company helps its health care customers—insurers and doctors’ groups—better understand the medical conditions and care patterns of their members, with the goal of improving care and reducing costs. Arrohealth says it’s on pace to earn $55 million in revenue for 2016.

#2 DashBid

What it does Creates software that helps online publishers get the highest price for advertisements placed on videos

How it grew "When you go to watch a video on a news website, for example, and see a little spinning circle, it’s not actually the video loading," said DashBid CEO Thomas Herman. "The opportunity to show you an advertisement is being auctioned."

On one side is the publisher who hosts the video and wants to get the highest price. On the other are the advertisers that want to pay as little as possible for the right opportunity to show their ads. In the lightning-fast bidding war that ensues, based on information about who’s watching, DashBid’s auction software fights to get the companies hosting the video the best deal.

Herman was chief operating officer of an earlier iteration of DashBid until the firm went under in 2013. He assumed the role of chief executive after resurrecting it from the ashes that same year, confident there was an opportunity for serious growth. He was right.

At the time, most of the investment in the digital advertising world was geared toward ad buyers. Billions of dollars were being spent, according to Herman, but little of it on the other side.

"Publishers were getting their clocks cleaned," he said.

To appeal to a wider audience, Herman scaled down DashBid’s original product so it would be attractive for small and midsize companies. He then began rebuilding his own firm from scratch. His first software was for videos shown on desktop computers, but in 2014, the firm started developing a product that would work on mobile devices. It has since grown tremendously.

While the technology itself was obviously essential to making the company successful, Herman believes that the real secret behind DashBid’s growth was recognizing they were in the right place at the right time, and pushing forward with confidence.

"There was a great need for what we did," he said.

DashBid is currently developing a number of products, including 360-degree ads that use virtual-reality technology to give viewers an immersive experience.

#7 Tal Depot

What it does Sells packaged goods and grocery items in bulk to homes and businesses around the United States

How it grew When it comes to e-commerce, there’s Amazon and then there’s everyone else. In 2012, Tal Depot CEO Jeremy Reichmann realized he could work with the e-tail giant while making a plan for an independent future. Reichmann and COO Seth Yanofsky started with $35,000 in capital between them and a single product—an energy drink that Yanofsky had exclusive rights to sell in the Northeast—and quickly added more items. Soon, they were selling thousands of products on the site, leveraging Amazon’s millions of users and logistical support. They used the profits from this part of the business to market and build out TalDepot.com, which sold bulk groceries and other goods to households and businesses.

Thanks to Amazon and the volume of merchandise they were moving, the partners were able to continually lower the cost of their products. The Amazon affiliation also forced a focus on customer service, because the website suspends sellers whose approval ratings fall below the upper 90s.

Along with intense marketing and customer recruitment efforts, Reichmann and Yanofsky grew TalDepot.com. More and more households and businesses came directly to the site for their bulk buying needs, which meant that the company was saving the 15 percent transaction fee charged by Amazon.

The plan worked. By starting small but looking big due to the infrastructural support from Amazon, Tal Depot was able to turn into a giant in its own right.

#42 Vice Media

What it does International news channel that posts its content on a variety of web and TV platforms

How it grew Dubbed the “bad-boy brand” by The New Yorker, the Canadian-born digital media company thrives by being outrageous and provocative, catering to a highly coveted demographic of young males who like to think of themselves as bad boys too. Among its claims to fame: putting on a basketball game with members of the Harlem Globetrotters and the North Korean national team in Pyongyang for Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. The company operates in 36 countries and has attracted investment from traditional media—Disney, 21st Century Fox and A&E—and has content deals with Pepsi and Bank of America. Despite a handful of layoffs this year, Vice’s valuation is now $4 billion.

#34 Buzzfeed

What it does Provides breaking news, video, entertainment and original content to over 200 million unique monthly viewers

How it grew Last year the company stepped up its international expansion efforts, opening two offices overseas, for a total of 18, including a joint venture with Yahoo Japan in Tokyo. Its year-old Tasty Kitchen videos also took off, attracting 360 million unique monthly users and 67 million fans on Facebook, all helping drive its 7 billion monthly content views, up from fewer than 5 billion in 2015. By all accounts, video will be a bigger part of Buzzfeed news and entertainment going forward.

#1 Peloton

What it does Manufactures stationary bicycles and sells subscriptions to a service that streams spinning classes to tablets

How it grew John Foley, a triathlete and father of two small children, thought his idea for a fitness business aimed at busy adults would be catnip for investors: Set a 21-inch waterproof tablet on a custom-built exercycle and stream cycling classes all day. Combining the spinning craze with virtual instruction, the concept targeted overstressed parents who don’t have time to get to a gym.

Foley had the background to lead Peloton. An industrial engineer, he’d helped run a factory that made 6 million Snickers bars a day, built web pioneer Citysearch and led e-commerce at BarnesandNoble.com.

But venture capital firms were slow to bite, so ?Foley turned to more than 100 angel investors—along with Kickstarter contributors who ordered about $300,000 worth of bikes in 2013. "In our minds we’ve created a new category of product," Foley said. "Not many [investors] connected the dots."

Attracting capital is easier now. Since its founding in 2012, the Chelsea-based company has raised $120 million, including $75 million last December from private equity firm L Catterton. The money is funding hiring, television marketing and the expansion of showrooms for Peloton’s $2,000 exercycles, which help steer riders to the company’s $39-a-month programming subscription. “Peloton is uniquely positioned at cross sections of multiple fitness trends,” said L Catterton partner Mike Magliacano.

Like a cycle freak on a tear, its growth keeps accelerating. Peloton has sold close to 50,000 bikes, has an on-demand video library of 4,000 classes led by 20 instructors and is adding 12 “rides” a day from its West 23rd Street studio. It’s on pace to double its showrooms to 22 nationwide this year.

And after quadrupling sales in 2015, it expects to grow revenue fivefold this year, to more than $200 million. Not bad for a company with zero sales just four years ago (hence, Peloton’s stratospheric two-year growth rate).

An international expansion is also on the horizon, along with a possible IPO.

"The hardest thing is keeping up with demand,” Foley said, adding that the company is just getting started. “Awareness of Peloton nationally is still very low."

Photo caption: John Foley: He overcame wary investors with a new concept in home fitness.

#28 Omnibuild

What it does A construction management firm working on projects throughout the tristate area

How it grew Chief Operating Officer John Mingione, 47, has been in the construction business for two-thirds of his life, which is one reason his clients trust him with so much of their business.

"That's my elevator pitch: 85% of our work is from return clients," he said.

Omnibuild is a general contractor working on hotel, residential and commercial projects. The firm is renovating the Hotel Chelsea and converting a building along the High Line into offices, for example. On a typical job, Omnibuild will work with a developer and manage 15 to 25 subcontractors.

Mingione started the firm in 2007, about a year before the real estate market in New York City tanked. In that short time, Omnibuild worked with enough developers and started enough projects to sustain it through the downturn and come out strong on the other side. “We had a good reputation and, even though things were bad, we kept our employees," he said. "We figured out how to make it work."

In 2015, Omnibuild acquired Cava Construction, which it had previously partnered with on some projects. Mingione became the COO, while Peter Serpico took over duties as chief executive. The newly merged company began hiring a younger workforce, which Mingione credits as another driving force behind the firm’s growth. As of now, Omnibuild has enough business to keep it busy for the next three years.

If the next downward turn of the real estate cycle lasts longer than that, Mingione knows what to do. Before Omnibuild, he ran a construction firm that focused on interior renovations. That experience has come in handy—when the market for new construction dries up, Omnibuild turns to renovations. Hotels in particular are constantly in need of face-lifts.

"There is always work in the tristate area," he said. But even if there isn’t, Mingione has the wherewithal to simply buy land and build a project using Omnibuild. Along with a partner, the firm just finished a hotel on Eighth Avenue.

#4 Bounce Exchange

What it does Collects information on individuals’ browsing behavior so marketers can improve their campaigns

How it grew Bounce uses its Behavioral Marketing Cloud to allow marketers to identify when users will exit a website or what makes them buy a product. Clients include Hearst, Rodale, Lufthansa and Microsoft. The Bounce Exchange attributes greater sales in 2015 to a concerted effort: Each pod within the company was assigned key performance indicators and received rewards when it hit them.

#12 Blue Apron

What it does Delivers fresh, seasonal ingredients from farms and suppliers that are preportioned for recipes that customers prepare at home

How it grew One of a handful of New York City “unicorns”—startups valued above $1 billion—$2 billion Blue Apron ships about 8 million meals a month, thriving off a desire among urbanites to cut their dependence on prepared food and cook at home. A weekly subscription costs around $60 for three recipes that each serve two. In just two years, “we’ve grown quickly not just by adding customers but also by retaining them and making Blue Apron part of people’s daily lives,” a spokesperson said.

#3 SearchMarketers.com

What it does Uses search-engine optimization to make it easier for companies to be found on the internet

How it grew SearchMarketers.com, closely associated with Google, receives new products in advance from the tech giant that it can roll out to clients. CEO Joe Britton also attributes its growth to its expanding network of websites and the ability to clearly communicate to clients what his firm can offer.

#44 Squarespace

What it does A platform that allows businesses to quickly and easily create professional-grade websites

How it grew Squarespace keeps getting great reception from its target market: small and mid-size businesses in creative fields that lack the cash to hire web designers. Squarespace 6, launched in 2012, was a complete rewrite, making it simpler to use. Squarespace 7, introduced in 2014, lets users preview sites in progress.

#46 Factory360

What it does Creates experiential marketing events so consumers can taste, touch, hear or feel a product

How it grew Factory 360 gives consumers the experience of a client’s product through choreographed events like Hershey’s Kisses–branded photo booths or Evian-branded pop-up spas. A key factor in the marketing plan is to encourage participants to share photos and videos of their experiences on social media through the company’s Factory Snap app, which also yields participant data for clients. Silicon Valley firms and other companies seeking to expand their multicultural reach continue to be big drivers of growth.

#39 ReviMedia

What it does Generates and sells sales leads to the insurance, home services, financial services and automotive industries

How it grew Revi Media owns and operates BestQuotes.com, HomeSafety.com, MortgageOnline.com and TopSolar.com, which it uses to generate leads. Its proprietary software, PX.com, is available online through a subscription and has helped Revi produce more sales-generating leads—some 20 million since it debuted in 2013.

#31 XAD

What it does Uses location data to help retailers and brand marketers target specific audiences at the right moment through mobile ads

How it grew Founded in 2009, the mobile marketing firm has ridden the growth of location-based search and advertising. Its business took off a few years ago when it shifted its focus to national brands and national chains, enabling them to link ad campaigns directly to consumer behavior and use the intelligence gained to create new customers. It serves more than 400 national marketers, up from 300 in 2014. The technology drives in-store sales and gives real-time feedback to retailers so they know if their tactics are working.

#5 Persado

What it does Its “cognitive” computing figures out how to make marketing emails and advertising copy more persuasive

How it grew Since Persado launched in 2012, its cognitive computing platform—essentially a practical application of artificial intelligence—has enhanced millions of marketing messages with words and phrases that improve results. The software, which “learns” from feedback, has enabled the company to grow its customer base by 4,550% in the past three years. Microsoft, Verizon Wireless, Citi and Best Buy are among the nearly 100 top brands employing it. Persado is now looking to apply its technology to uses such as motivating health and wellness app users to eat better and exercise more.

#9 Adore Me

What it does Sells its proprietary lingerie and swimwear mostly online

How it grew Its undies exude sexiness, but that’s not the only thing putting the five-year-old company in the accelerated-growth lane. Adore Me has benefited from its reliance on A/B, or split testing—which enables it to determine how different designs, models and poses score with customers. Other growth strategies include running ads, for the first time, on MTV, Bravo, E and Lifetime; dipping into brick-and-mortar retailing by putting garments in a handful of Nordstrom stores; and introducing less lacy bras for T-shirt wearers.

Still, some customers weren’t smitten with Adore Me’s VIP membership subscription plan. While offering price deals on merchandise, it also involved a complicated refund process. The firm last year simplified VIP refunds to just two clicks—one that leads to “My Account,” the other to “Request a Refund.”

#38 IIT

What it does Provides IT consulting, staffing and project-based outsourcing services

How it grew When the company started in 1995, IIT focused on the financial-services sector and tech startups in the New York area. But by changing focus to one underserved sector, IIT has been able to grow.

During the economic downturn in 2000 and especially after 9/11, when financial services and dot-com spending nearly vanished, IIT created a strategy to serve the government sector exclusively. After learning the nitty-gritty about doing business with pols at the state, city and county levels, IIT was able to expand to government clients in other states. Today it provides consulting, staffing and project-based services in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon and Texas.

Correction: IIT has 140 total employees. That figure was misstated in an earlier version of this profile.

#40 RegalWings

What it does Offers travel agents, blue-chip corporations and wealthy frequent fliers wholesale prices on international business and first-class seats as well as discounted private-jet rentals

How it grew What does great customer service mean to Eli Ostreicher? When an airline couldn’t guarantee that a kosher meal would be available on a last-minute booking, Ostreicher awoke at 4 a.m., picked up pastrami sandwiches from a great kosher deli and met his client at the airport before an early morning flight.

The 32-year-old Ostreicher is founder and CEO of Regal Wings, a travel agency dedicated to serving the 1% and those flying on other people’s money (otherwise known as business travelers) by providing wholesale business and first-class tickets and discounted private-jet bookings. He started his company in 2006 at the tender age of 22, and he acknowledges his timing wasn’t necessarily the best, as the market was—and still is—crawling with travel discounters likeKayak, Travelocity, Expedia and Orbitz. But he made certainto differentiate Regal Wings from that pack in two ways: first, by focusing on the high-end traveler with discount airfares on the most expensive seats and, second, by providing over-the-top customer care, in sharp contrast to the online shops, which are primarily self-service.

Professional travel agents make up a little less than halfof Regal Wings’ rapidly expanding business. Because themajority of the trips that most agents book involve economyfares, it’s often a challenge for them to accommodate thehandful of business- or first-class fliers who come their waywith fares that are sufficiently discounted to maximize theagents’ own profits. Ostreicher solves that problem for themthrough the deals he negotiates with all the major carriers.He gets the best prices because he guarantees airlines a certain volume, which he usually can exceed.

"But when you ask me how we have been so successful,what has made us grow so fast, it boils down to only oneanswer," he said. "We are willing to work very, very hard andare not willing to take no for an answer."

#43 Create Group NYC

What it does On-demand, flat-fee advertising services for pharmaceutical brands

How it grew Listen to the company’s president and founder, Natalie McDonald, for a few minutes and variations of the word “efficient” come up a lot: “Where our agency shines is in the execution of tactics done smartly and efficiently within our clients’ budget."

A veteran of both the agency world and the pharmaceutical industry, where she launched such drugs as Celebrex and Viagra, McDonald founded Create in 2009, determined to help drug marketers do more with less. She turned the traditional ad-agency fee structure on its head, ditching the standard time-and-materials model for flat fees guaranteed up front and results delivered quickly and on budget. It’s a new option for marketers, she said, saving time and money.

Create’s approach has paid off. In 2015, the agency’s work supported more than 45 pharmaceutical brands across the country. Its clients include major players such as Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim.

To meet its on-demand guarantee, Create, whose 22 full-time employees happen to all be women, maintains what it calls its Creator Hub, a stable of dozens of independent creative talents, including art directors and copywriters it taps for individual projects.

In its early years, Create grew largely by word of mouth as satisfied clients told colleagues and friends about its work.

This year, Create added a business development team and is focusing on expanding its reach to more pharmaceutical companies. Known for its expertise in using email as a marketing tool, the agency is working on employing social media and other innovations that have been less common in the health care advertising arena.

Create's model has its share of risks, especially in an industry where complexity can cause wild swings in agency pricing and where recouping astronomical development costs means companies hurry to get new products on the market as soon as they are approved. None of that scares McDonald.

"We stand committed behind the price, no matter how many hours it takes to get done," she said.

This year’s 50 fastest-growing companies in the New York area reflect an economy that has produced record job growth and seen billions of dollars in venture capital, particularly in digital advertising technology—an industry that once again dominates the list.

To arrive at our annual ranking we looked at companies with $10 million or more in revenue and measured their three-year growth rate (in two instances, we used a two-year growth rate because the businesses did not have revenue in 2012). Accounting firm Anchin, Block & Anchin assisted us in the financial document review process. Where noted, PrivCo, a financial data provider of privately held companies, gave us revenue estimates. Growth rates are based on actual revenue. The revenue shown is rounded off when greater than $1 million. Profitability refers to fiscal year 2015, and employee numbers are as of Dec. 31, 2015.

Nearly 90 companies sent us their financial statements or confirmed their revenues to be ranked. Twelve did not. Why? Matthew Flamm explains here.